


What is this feeling?

by Potatochutney



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Foreign Language, Galra Empire, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Nobility, Non-Sexual Slavery, POV Multiple, the dads of marmora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-20 15:51:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11924172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potatochutney/pseuds/Potatochutney
Summary: When Ulaz finds the human for sale, as a slave, he cannot allow the specimen to be harmed.So he purchases it for his half-human nephew to teach the kit the values of humanity, to supplement his cultural education.





	1. Chapter 1

The market was thick with people, each looking for their own item to purchase, each wanting something more than the other wanted. Prices were competitive, but not for the seller. People could bid on elusive items, and that was the competitive part. Galra loved to compete, those who were devoted to money had it easiest to bring a battle of bidding.

Ulaz wasn’t usually in the market for slaves, because it violated his entire principles, but there was a _human_ for sale. Humans! He’d only met one human before, and it was many, many deca-phoeb ago. He approached the bidding block, eyes narrowing at the many species around him, many bidding on the human. This could not stand. The human belonged with those of its own kind, or at least similar. He grit his teeth. He didn’t want to do this, to participate in this trade, but he would do it anyway. He approached the Galra he knew was the slave owner, offering a rather substantial sum of money in return for the human. Sold without a second thought, and the slaver dragged the human off of the bidding block without ceremony, the bidders booing but another slave already being brought on quietened them down.

Ulaz was handed the key to the slave’s restrictive gear, he noticed the slave had an arm made by the druids. His nose curled up in disgust, but teleported himself and the slave onboard his ship all the same.

“Human. You are no longer a slave. All I ask is that you act as companion to my charge, and in return your life is safe.” He spoke quickly, unlocking the gear. If the human wanted to fight him, he could win very quickly. It staggered a moment before looking up with sharp dark eyes. “My charge is similar of your species. My nephew, Keith. He is of your world and my species. He has not met another human. You will help him understand many things that I cannot teach him.” The human frowned, but nodded mutely. “Come.” Ulaz added, guiding the human toward the hygiene block. “What is your name, human?” He asked, glancing over his shoulder. The human seemed stunned more than anything, but that was irrelevant to the task.

“Shirogane Takashi.” It replied. The words seemed truly alien to Ulaz’s ears.

“Shirogayne tahkash?” He replied, brows furrowed, ears pricked.

“No. Shirogane Takashi.” At least they had a language in common.

“Shiro.” He replied, deciding that would be easier for his mind and Keith’s. The human frowned, but nodded all the same.

“That will do, I suppose.” It replied, before Ulaz opened the hygiene block.

“You will clean yourself and make yourself presentable, after which I will introduce you to Keith.”

 

Ulaz marched away, leaving the human to groom himself in whichever manner that species chose. He of course, had always implemented grooming for Keith in the manner of their species. His nephew had a wonderful mane, despite having small ears and a small crest. One worthy of a warrior, certainly. He took after Thace’s family in that respect, they all had resplendent manes. Speaking of Thace, he approached the other Galra’s bedchambers, knowing that he would already be nested and half asleep. Ulaz smiled and shook his head, the doors opening as he approached.

“Thace.” He made his voice somewhat softer, just for a moment. The other simply chirped in response, eyes half lidded. “Thace, mraak. I have brought a human for your nephew.”

That had his companion sat up and awake, eyes gleaming for a moment. “Explain.”

“There was a human on auction. He was captured by slavers, so I purchased him with the intent he can supplement Keith’s life. As a body guard, and as a friend, companion, pet.” He explained, before leaning over to groom Thace’s mane, it was always somewhat dishevelled after he slept. His companion let out a soft noise in response, leaning into the affectionate lick.

“As long as it’s house trained, and won’t cause any issues, I won’t complain. What is this human called? Is it a female or a male one? Tall or short? Thin or stocky?” He asked, eyes shutting again under the gentle grooming.

He paused the grooming, before his ears flicked. Always with the direct questions. “It is called Ta..Shiro. I cannot pronounce these strange names, but it was fine with me calling it Shiro. I believe it to be male, but humans are very difficult to gender because their ears do not indicate as such, plus their pheromones are…stange.” He explained. Humans were oddities.

“My sister loved one all the same, and she brought its kit into this world.” Thace replied, leaning over to butt his head against Ulaz’s. “We are an open minded in my family, mixed races are as valid as full Galra like myself. You are my equal, mraak. Keith will inherit our titles when we are quintessence.”

Ulaz purred quietly in response, rubbing his cheek against Thace, scent marking him for a mere moment. “I must go to the human. Please make our nephew aware that he will be gaining a companion.”

He stood quickly, nosing once more at Thace’s jawline before he left their sleep quarters. Time to check on the human. It was already stood waiting for him, and upon inspecting, he knew it was now a male human. It- _He_ lacked what human females usually had on their chests. And now that he had cleaned, Ulaz could fully inspect him. A scar over the nose- a warrior then. The arm was definitely galra, unlike the rest of him. Short mane, black with a white crest. Did humans have crests? He didn’t know, Keith didn’t have a crest in his mane like that.

“Come, Shiro. Keith will want to meet you soon.” He gestured for the human to follow him, and follow he did. Good.

“My nephew is not mine by blood, but my mraak’s sister’s son. I do not know how these things work on earth-terra. My mraak and I raised Keith from a kit until now, due to Daenaz’s passing. Her human mate was unaware that she was with his kit when she left, but her body was not meant for birthing a large kit such as Keith, though he has not grown at entirely the same rate as the rest of us. Perhaps he is the right size of your kind, though we do not know the normal rate. You seem to be closer to our sizes, Shiro.” He noticed he was talking at the human, rather than it being an open conversation. He paused, turning to the alien.

“..Sir?” He asked quietly, that strange accent of his. Ulaz blinked a moment before patting the top of it- _his_ head.

“You will be safe, shiro. Do not worry. Treat him as a peer and a friend.” The Galra told him, as the doors opened to reveal his nephew to the human.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith looked at the alien that Ulaz brought in, eyes fixed on it for one long moment. He then proceeded to leap up, straight onto the table in one fluid movement. He wanted to make sure the alien wasn’t here to try and surprise him and Ulaz.

The alien’s lips folded into a line, and his arms crossed as he watched the Galra. Keith then leapt down nimbly.

“Ulaz, what have you brought here?” He asked, ears flat against his head. His mane had enough volume to it that his ears’ movements actually made a difference in his appearance, unlike many other half-breeds.

“Peace, this is…Shiro. He is a human, like you, mreen.” That made his blood boil, just a little. Keith prided himself in his Galra heritage, prided himself in the fact that he came from Galra pedigree, despite the human blood that weakened it. Ulaz was half-breed like him, he should know not to insult him like that.

“I am not a human! You want me to be a human, but I am still Galra.” He hissed. The human still didn’t seem amused. He stepped closer, face close to the human’s as he regarded it.

“Nephew, calm your temper. Patience yields-“

“Patience yields focus, Keith.” The human finally spoke to him, and it reached forward. Keith flinched away, expecting a hit. Instead he found his beautiful mane was messed up, and the human stroked one of his ears. The young Galra turned red, flailing in response to the gentle touch. “So be patient with me, and you will learn.”

“P-patience!” He snarled, wriggling away from the human. “Touch me again and you’ll have two scars on your face, human!” It was weird, it was wrong. He shouldn’t like being touched like that, especially not by some human. He was the heir to the Marmora, a human had no right to touch him like they were close allies. He could see Ulaz moving, and he settled for frowning as his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Nephew. You know nothing of your heritage. You need to learn how to be yourself, not a false image of what you think you must be.” Ulaz mirrored the frown on his face, running a claw through the messy hair. “It suits you, your mane down like this. Good work Shiro.” His uncle was a traitor, siding with the human so readily. He huffed, squaring his shoulders as he turned to leave. “Keith, finish your meal. Shiro hasn’t eaten yet either, so wait for him to finish eating too.”

Keith crossed his arms and returned to the table, sitting with his arms folded as the human sat opposite him, one of their servants bringing him a meal. The alien frowned at the meat for a second before his stomach growled, and began eating it. Keith’s eyes were wide as he watched the way the human took apart the meat, eating it delicately. He didn’t just bite into a chunk of meat and pull it. He took it apart with a knife and then ate it. Keith frowned, copying the motion. He could see Ulaz smiling from the doorway before the older Galra left.

“Why do humans do this? With the knife? The meat is not tough, it does not need cutting before eating.” Keith demanded an answer after a long silence between them.

“If the meat is in smaller chunks, it’s easier to chew and swallow. On earth we have a thing called a fork, which we use to hold the meat in place while we cut it, so we don’t get our hands dirty. Sometimes we have the meat cut into smaller sizes and then put into the dish, if we are eating food with Hashi. In English, Hashi are called chopsticks.” Shiro explained patiently once he’d swallowed his mouthful.

Keith had no idea what a ‘chop stick’ looked like, but he assumed it was some manner of wooden knife.

“Hashi. Chop-sticks. I see.” He replied, before wiping his hands clean. “You will draw this ‘fork’ for me, I will see if we can acquire them and you will show me how they work.” Keith would get what he asked for. He was a Marmora. Their name meant something within the Galran empire.

The human seemed bemused, and it leant over and messed up his mane _again_. “Shiro! Stop doing that, you are ruining my mane.” He hissed, pouting slightly. Sure his mane wasn’t a normal colour for a Galra, but it was still his and he was proud of it! The human just smirked and shook his head, and Keith stood abruptly. “I am going to my rooms.” He snapped, arms crossed as he marched away.

He thought about the human. It had skin paler than his own and a different colour entirely, and eyes different to his own. Not golden, or hinted at golden. White and black. The shape was very different too, it didn’t have secondary eye-lids from what he could tell, nor did it have pupils that changed much depending on the light in the room. He nibbled the side of his claws as he often did when thinking, ears flicking slightly.

Keith himself wasn’t the same colour as Thace, his own fur wasn’t as thick either. His fur faded from thickest on top of his head, to practically bare on his face. Ulaz was similar in oddness, due to being mixed also with another species, so it wasn’t too strange. The skin itself was a strange cream-purple colour, with areas more purple than others. He was perfectly respectable as mixed-galra go. Especially his mane. At least he had a standard skin patterning, unlike Ulaz.

He paused at his door, bringing his hand up to unlock it when Shiro bumped into him from the unexpected stop.

“You?! Why have you followed me?” Keith tried to maintain his calm, but he was startled, having jumped slightly.

“I’m supposed to be your friend, so I’m seeing what your room is like. And I don’t have my own as far as I know.” Shiro replied, crossing his arms with a small smile playing on his lips.

Keith growled under his breath and unlocked the room, stepping into his quarters. “Well, it is messy so I don’t expect you to stay.”

“Messy? Keith, this is quite tidy. For a human, anyway.” Shiro stepped in, and Keith climbed onto his nest, golden eyes following him around the room. The mixed-species froze as the human reached his theory wall. “Is this…Speculations about earth?”

“I put together all the information I had about earth, and I guessed what things might be from there.” Keith replied, jaw squared slightly in response. The human nodded, before re-arranging a few things.

“First of all, you were wrong about languages of earth. There are more than 3 dialects that sound slightly different. It’s actually hundreds of languages, each with their own dialects.” Shiro explained. “And our ethnodiversity is based on regions, rather than mixing with different species. I would be considered ‘Asian’ as my home country is within the continent of Asia, and for clarity I’m Japanese. Japan is a nation island, with its own language and culture, similar to others but different in its own way.”

Keith blinked, standing up to quickly pull up the globe hologram. “Show me. Teach me about this Asia and Japan. Teach me about everything you know of Earth culture.” He wanted to know more, he was Galra first and foremost, but he wanted to know about Earth. Maybe then he would feel right about where he was and who he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is a literal cat tbh. Also, I am not an artist, I don't use a tablet. Click and point bitches, click and pointy

**Author's Note:**

> I'm making up my own galra language as I go along  
> Mraak - beloved
> 
>  
> 
> p.s. if u don't like the ship don't bother giving me hate, i'm the author and u can find work for ur own ships so toodleloo


End file.
